Matt Miszewski left Microsoft at the end of December to take a job at the cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) company. Microsoft sued last month, winning a temporary restraining order that kept Miszewski from immediately taking the new job.

At Salesforce, he would be senior vice president for the global public sector; at Microsoft, he was general manager of worldwide government for the Dynamics CRM team. Though Miszewski argued his focus this year on Salesforce’s U.S. efforts wouldn’t break his non-compete, Microsoft vehemently disagreed.

As did a Washington state Superior Court judge, who cleared the way for a preliminary injunction against Miszewski’s move. The Salesforce job” appears to be a direct violation of his non-compete agreement,” the judge said, according to a Microsoft spokesperson.

Another hearing is set for next month to put the order into writing. The judge also gave Salesforce some leeway to put Miszewski in a non-competing role until his non-compete expires at the end of 2011.

“We are pleased with the Court’s ruling,” Microsoft attorney David Howard said in a statement. “The Judge ruled unequivocally today in Microsoft’s favor and will enter an order enjoining Mr. Miszewski from working at the job he has taken at Salesforce. The ruling affirms the importance of safeguarding sensitive and confidential business information and upholding employment agreements designed to protect that information.”

A Salesforce spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by seattlepi.com.